Donegal hurler takes on the Westport sea2summit Challenge for charity

Former Donegal hurler and recently retired club hurler with Burt, Andrew Wallace has taken on a new sport and new challenge.

Former Donegal hurler and recently retired club hurler with Burt, Andrew Wallace has taken on a new sport and new challenge.

The man who for the best part of quarter of a century has graced the hurling fields of Donegal and Ulster and even further afield has taken up the adventure sport of Endurance Challenge racing.

And already with two events behind him from this summer - Gael Force North and the Dunfanaghy Coastal Challenge - he is about to take on the supreme endurance challenge for 2012, the Westport sea2summit Challenge.

The sea2summit challenge is made up of a 45 K run, 8 K cycle, 5k mountaon climb (Croagh Patrick), 35 K cyle run and a 4 K obstacle course run. The total distance covered in the challenge is 56.5 K. The race on is on Saturday week next November 3rd.

Andrew the holder of 20 Donegal Senior Hurling Championship medals a number of Ulster honours and a host of national accolades and turns 40 next month, is doing the event for charity.

“I only took up the sport a year ago, after having a chat with a friend of mine Gavin Harris from Convoy. Gavin advised me that I should give it a go and to be honest my only regret now is that I had not been aware of the sport and had not tried it earlier,” said Andrew.

“It is a tough sport and takes a lot of training and committement, as you can imagine, given the disciplines involved, but I must say I’m really enjoying it.

“I have already done two races, the Gael Force North and the Dunfanaghy Coastal Challenge and I’m happy how the went and I’m now preparing for the Wesport race, it is the toughest and most diffiuclt of the two. But I’m really looking forward to the challenge and the fact that I’m doing it for charity has helped me focus and made sure once I decided to take part to stay with it and complete the challenge.”

The two charities that are to benefit are the Donegal Hospice and MS Donegal, both very dear to Andrew for personal reasons.

“The two charities are very dear to me and have been the main motivating factors in taking on the challenge which I’m doing in memory of my late unlce James Wallace, my mother-in-law Bridget Duncan. They both died within two weeks of each other last year my unlce James from cancer and my mother-in-law Bridget from MS who also received care at the Hospice.”

Andrew currently has sponsorship cards out in shops and pub and business premises in and around the Burt, Bridgend and Newtowncunning areas, while donations can also be forwared to him at his home address Andrew Wallace, Aileach Valley, Bridgend, Co. Donegal.

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